N.Barnes, Youngstown Artist & Button Maker

abstract

These three are grouped together as I planned Pour #3, let it drip off onto the back side of a “scrap” drawing (same type of paper) and decided to play with it… that made Pour #4. Then I used my leftover paint mixes, along with a Candy Pink color, to do Pour # 5.

Here’s what they looked like when they dried.

Pour #3Pour #4 (playing with the drips… not thrilled with results)Pour #5

Each had some interesting areas, but none turned out “canvas worthy” so I’m glad to be practicing on watercolor paper. I can chop those babies up.

Pour #3 yield: 1 bookmark, a cover for a homemade book, one 5×5, and 3 ACEO’s.Pour #5 yielded 2 each in 5×5 and ACEO sizes. The book cover in lower right is the only thing kept from Pour #4.

SIDE NOTE: I’m going to edit my Pour #2 post to add yield photos as I cut that one up, too.

This pouring on paper takes messy to the extreme. I snapped a photo while playing around lifting the paper with a spat to see if little lifts here and there might help control the flow.

WIP or maybe just a big ol’ Mess In Process, LOL

As you can imagine, the back side of the paper got messy, too. I tried sliding an old mat board underneath to be able to lift so I could tilt it… a sheet of parchment paper helps prevent it from sticking as it dries but I still had to lift now and then. My next pour will be on ACEO size canvas boards because I want to try something stiffer. I’m going to try to protect the backs, too.

I do like the surprise aspect of this acrylic pour method of painting. It’s like you can plan so much, but the paint is going to do what it wants to do. Hopefully with practice and keeping liner notes, I’ll be able to anticipate what is going to happen, learn to control the flow to some extent, too.

As for the chopped pieces, the 5×5’s will be donated to a local 5×5 annual fundraiser for a children’s art program… if they sell, they sell… if not, oh well. I like them… maybe someone else will, too. The covers are for little homemade books. (I absolutely love little homemade books!) As for the ACEO’s, maybe I can sell those on eBay? Start them out with a low bid, just because they’re practice doesn’t make them garbage. I got a bunch of old colored pencil drawings… if I can sell some of those off, I can buy more supplies. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

The biggest surprise discovered about pouring on nice thick cotton paper was how good it feels, almost like a leather or something, after it dried. Yes, it warped a bit as it was drying, but a little flexing made it flat again. When you pour on paper, you can cut out interesting areas as smaller art or for other uses, perhaps to make a cover for a homemade journal book.

I’ll experiment with other grounds later… right now, I’m playing with paper.